Yes, You Can Eat Mac n' Cheese for Every Meal

Yummy gooeyness from breakfast to dessert.

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Mac n' cheese is awesome. In the cold weather months of New England, I can never find anything that warms me up faster than a bowl of mac n' cheese. And I'm not talking about microwavable mac that just about every college kid keeps in their dorm room. I'm talking about the from-scratch stuff that makes you melt just as much as that luscious cheese.

If you are like me, then you've wondered "is it possible to eat mac n' cheese for EVERY meal?"

The answer is YES, and here is how.

The Pasta

All of these recipes call for "cooked macaroni." By this, I mean boil 1/2 box of your favorite mac and cheese pasta (I used elbow macaroni) according to the box instructions. Salt the pasta water for every recipe (except the dessert!).

Drain the pasta when it is still al dente (or ALMOST fully cooked but still has some texture to it) and set it aside until the recipe calls for it. (And feel free to adjust all measurements based on how many servings you want to make. The following servings are a ROUGH estimate.)

Breakfast: Bacon, Egg, & Mac n' Cheese

Prep Time:30 mins

Cook Time:20 mins

Total Time:50 mins

Servings:3

Easy

Ingredients

Cooked macaroni

1/4 onion diced

2 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoon flour

1 cup milk

Bacon diced

3 eggs

1 cup or 1/2 16oz bag shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and black pepper to taste

Lisa Russo

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400°. In a pan over medium heat on the stove-top, cooked diced bacon. Remove the bacon from the pan, leaving the fat drippings in the pan, and set aside for later. Sauté the diced onion in bacon drippings until the onions are soft.

Step 2

In a pan over medium heat on the stove-top, cooked diced bacon. Remove the bacon from the pan, leaving the fat drippings in the pan, and set aside for later. Sauté the diced onion in bacon drippings until the onions are soft.

Lisa Russo

Step 3

Pour the mix into a baking dish.

Step 4

Make shallow indents in the mac n' cheese. Crack the eggs into the indents. Season with salt and black pepper.

Step 5

Top with more cheese (as much as you like) and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the egg is cooked to your liking (I like my egg yolks a little runny so I baked it for about 12 minutes).

Step 6

Cool for a few minutes and serve hot. Congratulations! Your day is off to a great start.

Lunch: BBQ Pulled Pork Mac n' Cheese Sliders

Prep Time:10 mins

Cook Time:20 mins

Total Time:30 mins

Servings:8

Easy

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Black pepper to taste

Cooked macaroni

4 cups BBQ sauce-drenched pulled pork store bought or homemade

2 cups Coleslaw store bought or homemade

Brioche slider rolls

TIP: This recipe is a great way to use up your holiday-weekend BBQ leftovers!

Lisa Russo

Step 1

On the stove-top, melt butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk constantly until light brown (about 1 minute). Pour in the milk and continue to whisk.

Step 2

Stir in cheese until melted. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir in macaroni.

Lisa Russo

Step 3

Toast the buns for the sliders. Once toasted, layer mac n' cheese, with 1/2 cup (or one heaping spoonful) of warmed pulled pork, and 1/4 cup (or one regular spoonful) of coleslaw on the bottom bun. Crown with the top bun and serve.

BONUS! Lunch #2: Grilled Mac n' Cheese with Ham

Prep Time:5 mins

Cook Time:20 mins

Total Time:25 mins

Servings:4

Easy

Ingredients

8 slices sourdough bread

8 slices your favorite ham

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour

1/2 cup milk

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

salt and black pepper to taste

cooked macaroni

Step 1

Prepare mac n' cheese just like you did for the sliders above (or see that recipe for prep instructions).

Step 2

On a plate or cutting board, butter one side of each of the slices of bread. Flip those over so that the un-buttered side is facing up.

Step 3

On one slice, scoop your mac n' cheese. Top that with sliced ham. Close the sandwich with the buttered side of the second slice of bread facing out.

Step 4

On the stove-top, heat a pan over medium heat. Place sandwich into the heated pan. Cook for 2 minutes then flip to cook for another 2 minutes. Serve hot.

Dinner: Mexican Stuffed Pepper Mac n' Cheese

Prep Time:15 mins

Cook Time:35 mins

Total Time:50 mins

Servings:4

Easy

Ingredients

Cooked macaroni

1/4 onion diced

3 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

1 cup milk

1 and 1/4 cup shredded Mexican four cheese blend

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

salt to taste

1/2 can black beans drained

1-2 chicken breasts shredded: I like to use rotisserie chickens because they are easier

4 bell peppers

sour cream optional

Step 1

Preheat oven to 400°.

Step 2

In a pan over medium heat on the stove-top, saute the diced onion in 1 tbsp. butter until the onions are soft. Put them in a bowl. You can add the drained black beans to the bowl as well and save it for later.
**TIP: Add some finely diced jalapeno for a little extra kick!

Step 3

Cut the tops off of the peppers and set aside.

Step 4

Shred the chicken breasts and set aside.

Step 5

On the stove-top, melt the remaining 2 tbsp. of butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk constantly until light brown (about 1 minute). Pour in the milk and continue to whisk.

Step 6

Stir in cheese until melted. Add in the cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt. Whisk.
**Note: The spice measurements here are lenient. Start with the measurements given here, then add to it based on how much of a kick you want it to have. Go crazy or keep it tame, whatever works for you!

Step 7

Add the cooked onions and black beans.

Step 8

Stir in the cooked macaroni and chicken as well.

Step 9

Using a spoon, scoop some of the mixture into each pepper until they are full. Top with crushed tortilla chips.

Step 10

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the peppers have softened slightly (you don't want them crunchy but you also don't want them to collapse).
Serve warm, topped with sour cream.

Dessert: Strawberry Mac n' Cheesecake

Prep Time:5 mins

Cook Time:30 mins

Total Time:35 mins

Servings:6

Easy

Ingredients

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

one 8oz brick cream cheese

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 beaten egg

cooked macaroni

1 cup frozen strawberries mashed with 2 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

crushed graham crackers: as much as you want we used 2 whole crackers

fresh strawberries optional

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°.

Step 2

On the stove-top, melt butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add flour and whisk constantly until light brown (about 1 minute). Add half of the cream and continue stirring.

Step 3

Add the brick of cream cheese. Stir. Add the rest of the heavy cream gradually.
**Note: This step will start out very thick as pictured. Keep stirring until the cream cheese is mostly melted, and I promise everything will be okay.

Step 4

Crack an egg in a bowl and beat with a fork. Add half of this to the cheese mixture. Add vanilla and sugar, and stir. At this point is should be smooth.

Step 5

Stir in cooked macaroni and white chocolate chips. Scoop out and smooth the mixture into a baking dish.

Step 6

Mash frozen strawberries with sugar. Mix strawberry mash into the mac n' cheese. Crush 2 graham crackers and pour them over top of the mac and cheese.

Step 7

Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool for a few minutes (or as long as you can wait) and serve warm with fresh strawberries.

OMG ANOTHER BONUS!!

Snacks:

Put your leftover mac n' cheese (if you have any) into muffin tins. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Now you have a portable, mac n' cheese snack to comfort you with velvety-cheesy goodness on the go!

Lisa Russo

I hope I have inspired the adventurous mac and cheese lover in you to indulge in comforting cheesy goodness as often as you can! PS- my favorite recipe is dessert!